NRLW.

[The Rocket]

8 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Same story on YouTube. AFLW highlights packages are struggling to reach 1k, a week after posting. In contrast the three NRLW equivalents are currently running at 13k, 16k, and 20k.

That`s quite an incredible stat for a competition that has been running for 6 years. It shows a very poor level of interest that you can`t even muster a thousand views for your `highlights` after one week. Telling in that it shows what people think of the product on offer.

 

8 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

All the ratings figures ought to have cumulative effects in terms of investment. Already, the degree of exposure for very little outlay makes NRLW sponsorship a great deal. As that gap narrows, NRLW could be funded independently,

Yes this is the key now, and when you consider that three NRLW games out-rated cumulatively eight aflw games it only highlights the commercial advantage of NRLW sponsorship and advertising. Plus of course the double-whammy of people tuning in for the NRLW highlights packages as well.

Another aspect of this is of course what can be more inspiring for young women players and prospective participants knowing that you are playing in front of a potential audience of a couple of hundred thousand viewers.

 

8 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

The relative success of NRLW over AFLW also vindicates the NRL`s gradual approach to growing their women`s comp

This is the one that fascinates me more than anything. The afl have made such a hullaballoo about their women`s competition - one official claiming the other day that they want it to be the highest paying women`s sport in the nation - that they have created a rod for their own back.

Their has been a lot of talk by the women saying they want an equal length season to the men`s and comparable renumeration, any talk by the afl now of not complying with this is met with howls of ` well if it`s good enough for the men ...`.

One area where I thought the afl had possibly got it right was playing the competition before the men`s as it gave it some free air, especially for the curious and those who wanted a footy fix. Well that looks in danger now as well as a lot of the women are saying we are a winter sport and we want to play in winter, again, like the men.

I think if the afl succumb to this push it will only make the situation worse for them both ratings and commercially wise.

Worth noting they have two more teams coming in next year, and several afl journalists are questioning the wisdom of diluting an already diluted competition, admitting freely that standards are going to drop even further.

It`s what happens when you try to be everything to everybody. Probably further exemplified by the overt courting by the afl of the LGBTQI+ community for their women`s comp which seems to me has only resulted in attracting a more militant type of feminist, who are demanding `we are as good as the men we deserve the same `. As we know commercial realities can be a completely different matter and have to be considered.

9 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

an ignominious cost-cutting retreat could be in the offing.

This is where the real sting in the tail could lie. There can be no retreat from this if it starts to show itself to be an unbearable financial burden, the PR repercussions would be absolutely disastrous. Can you imagine the outcry if they were forced to curtail or cutback their women`s programme. Love it.

9 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Hate to labour this point (honestly), but I`d rather PVL had noticed that women`s RL would be better to watch if the refereeing in Eels/Knights were the norm.

Mate if it is any consolation I have now started including in my numerous posts to the comments sections of the Australian newspapers something a long the lines of " if you want to improve the product further, stop this refereeing mania surrounding the knock-on, knock-ons are just that, not to be confused with the ball travelling in any other direction " or something to that effect. I`ve also thrown in a couple of " no more six-again for the charge down " as well.

Got to go now mate, couple of chores to do and then the triple header this afternoon, heaven, hope all is well, always enjoy your posts.

 

 

[unapologetic pedant]

Two very good Broncos tries today off scrum plays. We`ll see fewer of these now that scrums have been replaced with handovers after the ball crosses the touchline. Instead we`ll get more of the high-octane thrills and excitement of slow-motion PTBs followed by 2 or 3 one-out settlers. Speeds the game up, apparently.

[Pigeon Lofter]

I've just watched extended highlights of the triple header at the WIN Stadium. I am gobsmacked by the real high quality performances in all three matches.

St George game against Paramatta played under biblical conditions as a near monsoon landed but still the standard of play was impressive. Gold Coast looked highly capable in doing the Roosters and Brisbane the same against Newcastle. The quality of passing, running and tackling was astonishingly high. Plenty of big hits too. Kicking not so great, but rarely seems to be in women's rugby.

Games only 70 minutes, but all players looked fit as butchers dogs so in these days of equality surely that extra ten minutes will come?

St. George PNG prop Elsie Albert looked more like Albert Elsie. Looks and plays like a bloke but must have passed whatever tests are required to take the field. 

A very enjoyable watch. Great rugby league from all 6 sides.

[RL Sonja]

Those conditions were really, really bad. Well done. 

[The Rocket]

NRLW : Eels v. Titans.

57 000 viewers on Fox League, with 50 000 for the pre-game. Great numbers for a game that was simulcast on FTA and which could easily more than double those Fox numbers. Great result.

I think the Sunday afternoon double header featuring the home Women`s and Men`s side looks like a winner, seemed like a lot of Parra fans got in early to catch the Women`s game and wouldn`t have been disappointed with the fare on offer.

[RL Sonja]

The NRLW has been awesome to date. It is very watchable and the quality is far higher than the AFLW.

[unapologetic pedant]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

I think the Sunday afternoon double header featuring the home Women`s and Men`s side looks like a winner, seemed like a lot of Parra fans got in early to catch the Women`s game and wouldn`t have been disappointed with the fare on offer.

Haven`t watched the whole of all three games yet.

From what I have seen, with a few cobwebs blown away and kinder weather, round 3 looks to have featured the most entertaining football of the NRLW so far. Which augurs well for the rest of this comp and the one later this year.

Next week Titans/Broncos is a precursor to Titans/Warriors NRL on the Gold Coast.

Eels/Roosters and Knights/Dragons both precede Knights/Tigers NRL at Newcastle.

[The Rocket]

After being awarded the rights to host this years Women`s State of Origin, more things happening in the nation`s capital.

ACT sponsors women's rugby league team - Canberra Weekly

"The ACT will become the first state or territory to sponsor a women’s rugby league (NRLW) team.

As part of its $13 million commitment to the Canberra Raiders over the next five years, the ACT government will help the “Green Machine” bid for an NRLW team for the Women’s State of Origin, which the ACT will host at GIO stadium this year."

Interesting that the ACT Government has tipped in about $30 million dollars into the Raiders over the last 18 years, that`s about 1 & 3/4 million per year, the new funding deal is about 2.6 million per year, would seem this is factoring in the running of an NRLW side.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

After being awarded the rights to host this years Women`s State of Origin, more things happening in the nation`s capital.

I`m ambivalent about the choice of venue for this year`s women`s SOO. The ACT government were ostensibly instrumental in securing several 2017 World Cup games for Canberra. As I recall, the local "fans" were not exactly overflowing with enthusiasm or queuing round the block to get in.

[DoubleD]

https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/03/15/arlc-announce-expansion-for-nrlw-womens-state-of-origin/

[The Great Dane]

21 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I`m ambivalent about the choice of venue for this year`s women`s SOO. The ACT government were ostensibly instrumental in securing several 2017 World Cup games for Canberra. As I recall, the local "fans" were not exactly overflowing with enthusiasm or queuing round the block to get in.

Not Canberra's fault that tickets were massively overpriced and there was precisely zero marketing for the event locally.

90% of the population had no clue when the games were actually on, and most of the other 10% were turned off when they realised they'd have to sell a kidney to get a seat worth having.

The only good decision made as pertains to the 2017 RLWC and Canberra was to base France here (large diaspora for Aus, French speaking school, etc). Aside from that they made every mistake that you possibly could.

[The Great Dane]

8 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/03/15/arlc-announce-expansion-for-nrlw-womens-state-of-origin/

None of them should go to Sydney or Brisbane. Spread the love around now, worry about overhyped derbies later.

Unfortunately this is the NRL so I fully expect at least one or two to go to Sydney, and another to the Dolphins.

In an ideal world independent bids would be seriously considered as well, but that's almost certainly not going to happen under the current administration either.

[DoubleD]

18 minutes ago, The Great Dane said:

None of them should go to Sydney or Brisbane. Spread the love around now, worry about overhyped derbies later.

Unfortunately this is the NRL so I fully expect at least one or two to go to Sydney, and another to the Dolphins.

In an ideal world independent bids would be seriously considered as well, but that's almost certainly not going to happen under the current administration either.

NZ should be the first team coming back in

[The Great Dane]

50 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

NZ should be the first team coming back in

That may not be feasible considering the times.

The NZRL doing something for themselves for once wouldn't be a bad thing either...

[The Rocket]

On 14/03/2022 at 12:21, unapologetic pedant said:

Next week Titans/Broncos is a precursor to Titans/Warriors NRL on the Gold Coast.

Eels/Roosters and Knights/Dragons both precede Knights/Tigers NRL at Newcastle.

Titans/Broncos game pulled 52 000 viewers on Foxtel and Sunday`s Knights/ Dragons game drew 53 000 on Foxtel with FTA figures unavailable. If I had to guess I`d say the latter with FTA and streaming would have pulled over the 100 000 mark. 

Still rating strongly and easily out-rating our competitors.

[RL Sonja]

Such a shame to see Bo Vette-Welsh injured on the weekend. An absolute star in every sense and the perfect role model for the female game.

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, RL Sonja said:

Such a shame to see Bo Vette-Welsh injured on the weekend. An absolute star in every sense and the perfect role model for the female game.

That was pretty much the first thing I heard when I woke up and put on the ABC commentary. Not a great start to the day. Last year, it was Kezie Apps (a favourite player of mine) who seemed to be getting injured all the time.

[RL Sonja]

25 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

That was pretty much the first thing I heard when I woke up and put on the ABC commentary. Not a great start to the day. Last year, it was Kezie Apps (a favourite player of mine) who seemed to be getting injured all the time.

Another out and out star. Great player Apps.

Hopefully Vette-Welsh will be there to light up the World Cup come October/November.  

[RL Sonja]

NRLW Semis were both excellent games that went down to the wire.

[DoubleD]

 

[bird]

Its behind a paywall. No thanks.

[The Rocket]

NRLW: National Championships, explainer, everything you need to know about the Harvey Norman National Championships - NRL

14 teams consisting of 300 players from all around Australia.

After the 2021 tournament 17 girls got their first NRLW contracts after this tournament.

Will be interesting to see how 2021 surprise packet Open category champions Western Oz fare this time around.

Edited June 2, 2022 by The Rocket

[unapologetic pedant]

7 hours ago, The Rocket said:

After the 2021 tournament 17 girls got their first NRLW contracts after this tournament.

Will be interesting to see how 2021 surprise packet Open category champions Western Oz fare this time around.

As far as I`m aware all of those 17 were NSW and QLD players in the under-19s competition. So the National Championships were a stage in their progression through the systems.

Likely to become increasingly hard for players from outside the RL States to get noticed at the tournament, although Brooke Walker the Parra signing featured in the piece posted up the page played for Victoria last year.

On a related theme, Parra have signed a Black Ferns Rugby 7s player (inevitably described as a "Star") for NRLW 2022. Encouragingly, she made the switch to League herself. Been playing for Mounties in the NSW Premiership. This is how it should be. RL should concentrate on creating amateur competitions that naturally attract players from other sports. Clubs shouldn`t court them for NRLW. Contracts should only be offered to players with proven records in League.

WA`s most creative player Kailey Thompson has relocated and is turning out for Wenty Magpies in the NSW premiership.

They won`t all be available for SA this year, but I know of 5 relocated South Australians, 3 with clubs in the QLD Premiership, 1 in the Tarsha Gale Cup, plus Simone Karpani who was in the Roosters` NRLW Premiership-winning side and began her RL journey at South Adelaide Bulldogs.

Another interesting SA case is Teliyah Hetaraka, who moved to Canberra to play Tarsha Gale Cup for the Raiders. Unfortunately, last seen in the ACT Brumbies Super W side.

This Saturday sees the QLD women`s premiership GF. - Central QLD Capras v North QLD Gold Stars.

Edited June 2, 2022 by unapologetic pedant

[unapologetic pedant]

Ratings for the NRL GF weren`t too hot.

Ratings for the NRLW GF were a lot more encouraging - Metro 342k Fox 132k.

When both games are on the same day, these figures can be a little opaque with programmes and viewership overlapping. However, with distinct ratings for pre-game and post-game shows, the FTA number for the game itself should be reliable, and Fox only had the NRLW.

Regionals for RL are usually more than half the Metro and should be higher with Newcastle in the final. So, the aggregate number should be edging towards 700k without streaming.

I`m not aware of any Australian women`s domestic sport fixture getting close to that. Other than State of Origin.

[gingerjon]

4 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Ratings for the NRL GF weren`t too hot.

Ratings for the NRLW GF were a lot more encouraging - Metro 342k Fox 132k.

When both games are on the same day, these figures can be a little opaque with programmes and viewership overlapping. However, with distinct ratings for pre-game and post-game shows, the FTA number for the game itself should be reliable, and Fox only had the NRLW.

Regionals for RL are usually more than half the Metro and should be higher with Newcastle in the final. So, the aggregate number should be edging towards 700k without streaming.

I`m not aware of any Australian women`s domestic sport fixture getting close to that. Other than State of Origin.

Very positive.